By Eeli Helin
Album Type: Full-length
Date Released: 20/09/19
Label: Metal Blade Records
”A Dawn to Fear” CD//DD//2LP track listing:
1.
The Silent Man
2.
Lay Your Head to Rest
4.
Nightwalker
5.
Lights on the Hill
6.
We Feel the End
7.
Inland Rain
8.
The Fall
The Review:
Cult of Luna are a band that
has always existed in this sort of a limbo state, at least from my view. Being
honest to themselves and their fans about the realities of making music,
impossibilities of traveling abroad and doing long tours because of their
families and so on, the band has reached a state where they dictate their
doings and schedules, and the fans accept that. However, the wait is always
agony, and that feeling is greatly fueled by the presence of unpredictability.
You never know of or when something happens, you also never know what to
expect. As a band whose output has changed throughout the years, each of their
albums have their own signature sound. I've repeatedly wondered how deep is the
well from where they draw influence and material, and as it turns out, that
well is a damn deep and wide one.
”A
Dawn to Fear” is Cult of Luna's 8th album (when including their
collaboration album with Julie Christmas and excluding the audiobook ”Eviga
Riket”) and their first on Metal Blade Records, being released on
September 9th. Prior to the announcement, they released the album's first track
"The Silent Man" in early
May, thrusting forth humongous waves of anticipation and expectations for the
release. As the album consists of eight immense tracks adding up to 80 minutes
of material, there's a lot to cover so I'll keep this introduction short. You
all have heard about the band and should know their material in and out by now.
Starting
the album up with a bang, after a feedbacky intro "The Silent Man" proceeds in a surprisingly vivid pace.
The driving drum beat picks up the other instruments, and it is instantly clear
you're listening to Cult of Luna. Reaching its culmination points
in the three minute mark and toning down for a moment just to explode to your
face again, the track induces feelings of melancholy not many can pull off.
Adding a new level to that, the song falls into a quieter, more ambient washed
passage before the shiver inflicting crescendo. "The Silent Man" is already a very familiar track to each
of their fans, but that doesn't lessen the impact those final moments have
every time you listen to the song. Even if the track has those guaranteed,
distinctive characteristics of a Cult of Luna song, when viewed in the full
album context, it's the most basic and regular one. When listening through it
and getting back to the beginning, it feels weird that this one was picked to
open the album, let alone be the first single released from it.
"Lay Your Head to Rest" opens with a few
metallic drone swells before heading to a floaty passage led by octave chords.
Despite the proggy approach and keeping the tension, the track is very
structured. Being of the shorter length, the track feels atypical for the band
which proves to be refreshing. At this point the listener also starts to notice
the prevalent atmosphere and the production direction. I can't think of any
bands uniting organic instrumentation with metallic (read: actually metallic,
almost industrial-like) synths, ambients and drones in such an eloquent manner.
Picking some reference points from their past, ”A Dawn to Fear” sounds
like a mix between ”Somewhere Along the Highway” and ”Vertikal”. By that I
don't mean it'd be a repetition of either, but the aesthetic aches to those
directions. "Lay Your Head to
Rest" is also simplistic in a similar sense as the first track, but is
contagious, as you notice the main riff will get stuck in your head for quite a
long while afterwards.
The
sheer brilliance of this album however, lies ahead. The titular track opens a
new chapter in the bands books, unleashing something the first two tracks held
back. The titular track starts with a soft, almost jazzy southern rock part
that goes on for a good while before introducing layered clean vocals. That moment
is beautiful, and the most intimate one on the album. Progressing to a passage
with only an organ and deep vocals with some passing high swells, it is with
this song that the band touches a ground they haven't before. Getting back to
its feet for a controlled refrain before exploding into a sludgy, doomy verse
that unites the said southern feels with distorted guitars, that carries the
listener to one of the greatest moments in Cult of Luna's history, the multi-layered
outro that compresses all these different aspects into one. It takes a while to
digest everything that's happening, but it doesn't matter.
Clearly
picking up the pace, "Nightwalker"
creates a haunting and eerie mood straight from the beginning, a mood that
goes on through the few following tracks as well. Constantly getting flesh
around its bones, the track explodes to a powerful passage topped with
Johannes' vocals, who by the way sounds angrier and more pissed off than ever
before. Staying true to their own sound, it's brilliant how they manage to
introduce new and fresh facets yet sound exactly like themselves at all times.
Even though sticking to the same pattern for a long, long while, it doesn't get
numbing or dull at any point. It's that one particular second where everything
capsizes onto its head. You never
realize it's coming nor can you expect it, but when the change arrives, it'll
result in some chills and patent satisfaction. Going into a shuffle beat and
synth lead, "Nightwalker"
takes steps towards actual prog, which is definitely not unprecedented, but
it's invigorating. You'll nod and sway along until the track returns to the
main riff, wielding steadily to a slowly evaporating guitar outro.
Before
you even grasp what just happened, "Lights
on the Hill" seeps in daunting and frightening way, that makes you
surveil and watch your surroundings, as if someone, or rather something, would
be on your heels. The song evolves into a sad-toned passage, laying pressure on
top of the listener until a tom beat carried crescendo, which turns out to be
the single heaviest part on the album as a whole. Quicker rhythms burst out in
a blink, leading to a funeral aesthetic outro as if it would prepare you for
what's coming next. "We Feel the
End" is a ballad like middle piece, calling in mind "Approaching Transition" from
their previous album, minus the heavy as balls doom beating. This track relies
entirely on emotion, throws in what sounds like a child choir and a vibraphone
part. Someone could describe the clean vocals as frail or even weak if put
harshly, but the fragile tone simply works time and time again, and there's
zero need for anything polished or technically mind blowing in that sense.
"Inland Rain" opens the last
twenty minutes of the album with a feeling of cold grief, and a more striding
flow, tambourines and all. In this track, one of Cult of Luna's greatest strong
suits take the spotlight and continuously catch your attention, and that's the
drum work. Having always been extremely strong on that department, the drums
shine the brightest instead of being "just" the spine of everything.
You'll pick up a ton of nuances and details along the way, and it takes few
listens to even be able to focus on anything else. The track overall is a
shapeless mass with a weight comparable to a neutron star. The grand piece of
the album is the final track "The
Fall". It's easiest to describe it as the perfect blend of everything
the band has ever done, their whole career compressed to one track. You'll hear
nuances from each of their earlier releases, and can draw straight lines to
each in the right time. That is pretty much all I can say at this point, you
simply have to hear it to believe it and to know what I'm talking about. After
this track when the silence hits, after possibly the best individual song
they've ever composed, I feel really empty. And you will too.
”A
Dawn to Fear” is a humongous oeuvre that takes time to fully digest and to
comprehend. It will match and probably surpass any and all expectations you
might have for it. Despite the momentarily sluggish start, the first two tracks
also blend better into the big picture when you replay the album. It's a lot to
take in, but if you survived my ramblings this far, you will survive it too.
After all, the flow is impeccable throughout. It doesn't matter if you're
familiar with the band or not, it'll snatch your attention before you even know
it, and keep you entertained through the entire eighty minutes. Not to prolong
this any further, I'm confident to say that ”A Dawn to Fear” is Cult of Luna's
best album so far, over twenty years into their career. And that is, pardon my
French, a fucking beautiful thing.
”A
Dawn to Fear” is available HERE
